Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2022.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 7 September 2022 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To appoint a Vice Chair for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting.

RESOLVED – That Dr Simon Woodworth Briggs be appointed Vice-Chair of the Board for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To achieve any announcements from the Chair on matters related to the activity of the Board.

No announcements were made.

To consider a report of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships.

The report presents the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlines the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The Board is requested to note the report.

Officer contact: Nuala O'Rourke by email: Nuala.orourke@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which presented the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlined the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·         Thanked colleagues for a comprehensive report outlining the key issues and progress of ongoing work.

·         Whether the children remanded in custody that became looked after children under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 were included in the looked after children figures.

·         In response, it was stated that there were children who were on court mandated care orders at home as a result of going to court for youth violence or crime which were included in the figures. However, children in remand were housed by the criminal justice system as opposed to the local authority.

·         It was queried how many unaccompanied asylum seekers were currently in the borough.

·         In response, it was commented that there was a commitment and obligation to take 0.07% of the population as unaccompanied asylum seekers which was approximately 38. The current figures of unaccompanied asylum seekers in Stockport were under 20. Whilst funding was provided, it did not cover the full cost of care including healthcare and education as if they came part way through the year they would not be on the school census.

·         It was noted that there was new accommodation in Stockport which offered 7 independent flats for care leavers and was accompanied by outreach support and the Board welcomed plans to offer further accommodation to open 20 more flats.

·         It was noted that 110 Safe accommodation referrals were made with 94 of the 110 being offered safe accommodation and it was queried what happened to the remaining 16 referrals.

·         In response, it was stated that the authority would on occasion use hotels for a temporary period of time until suitable accommodation could be provided. When people were looking for safe accommodation, they would be rehoused or moved into a refuge. It was recognised that there was a large pressure in refuge at the moment and limited void properties within Stockport homes with long waiting lists so it was difficult to find provided safe long term accommodation.

·         Recognised the value of the development day to embed safeguarding activity which was well attended and representative of all agencies across Stockport.

·         Congratulated the service for the number of attendees at the training and education courses. It was queried whether it was felt that holding these face to face would affect the volume of attendees on the courses.

·         In response it was commented that the service had experienced an increase in attendees when hosted virtually and did not want to lose the benefits of virtual working. As a result, the service had identified two types of training, transactional and relational training. It was felt that transactional training could be completed effectively online whilst relational training was suited to in person.

·         Thanked the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships for her high support, high challenge role and contributions to safeguarding across Stockport.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Director of Public Health.

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) looks at the current provision of pharmaceutical services across Stockport’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) area, assesses whether this meets the current needs of the population and identifies any potential gaps to service delivery. The report provides the Health & Wellbeing Board with an opportunity to discuss and comment on Stockport PNA 2022 document, examine the consultation process and approve the report for publication.

The Board is asked to comment on and approve the report for publication.

Officer contact: Eleanor Banister on 0161 474 2447 or email: eleanor.banister@stockport.gov.uk

The Director of Public Health submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) which outlined the current provision of pharmaceutical services across Stockport’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) area, assessed whether this met the current needs of the population and identified any potential gaps to service delivery. The report provided the Health & Wellbeing Board with an opportunity to discuss and comment on Stockport PNA 2022 document, examine the consultation process and approve the report for publication.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·         Welcomed the report and thanked officers for their work to produce a comprehensive, high quality and well considered report.

·         Requested additional information in relation to the New Medicines Service.

·         In response it was commented that the service was available from both community pharmacies and internet/distance selling pharmacies and was provided when a patient starts a medicine for the first time. The pharmacist would go through with the patient what the medicine is used for, how you take it and in particular any interactions for them.

·         Noted the New Medicines Service and acknowledged the value that it provided for residents.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Stockport Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment be agreed and recommended for publication.

To consider a report of the Director of Strategy.

The report provides an update on the Integrated Care System.

The Board is requested to note the report.

Officer contact: Kathryn Rees by email: kathryn.rees@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Place Lead submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided a further update on the Integrated Care System arrangements, described the opportunities afforded by the new legislation, highlighted the progress by Stockport’s Locality Board - the One Health and Care Board, highlighted the progress made at Greater Manchester level, provided assurance on the transition of the NHS Stockport CCG workforce and provided an overview of the future direction of Stockport’s Locality arrangements.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·         Thanked the Deputy Place Lead and offered congratulations for her new role as Greater Manchester Deputy Chief Nursing Officer.

·         In relation to the Mental Health and Wellbeing workstream, it was noted that increasingly there were occurrences where a patient had been discharged from a mental health facility, relapsed and no further available support was available.

·         In response, it was agreed that further discussions were required following the meeting to better understand the issues and inform decisions moving forwards.

·         It was recognised that work was progressing quickly and effectively across the system, however work was required to further embed practices.

·         It was reported that an announcement had been released in relation to the adult social care discharge fund identifying how the money would be allocated to support the discharge from hospital service and further guidance would be provided in due course. It was noted that this was non-recurrent funding and would not be used to make permanent staffing appointments.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted including the progress made.

To consider a report of the Director of Education.

The report provides an overview of the outcome of the recent SEND revisit. This was a focussed joint visit by OFSTED and CQC to assess whether the local area has made sufficient progress on the five areas of weakness identified in the 2018 SEND inspection. 

The Board is requested to note the outcome of the SEND revisit and strategic direction.

Officer contact: Bev Milway on 0161 218 1785 or email: bev.milway@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Direction of Education submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided an overview of the outcome of the recent SEND revisit which was a focussed joint visit by OFSTED and CQC to assess whether the local area had made sufficient progress on the five areas of weakness identified in the 2018 SEND inspection.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·         Thanked the officers for a comprehensive report and welcomed the outcome of the revisit and the improvements that had been made.

·         It was noted that the improvements had been made against the backdrop of the pandemic and additional challenges this created which was a credit to the commitment of staff involved. 

·         Welcomed the commitment to further improvements in the future to deliver better opportunities for children and young people with SEND in Stockport.

RESOLVED – That the outcome of the SEND revisit be noted including the strategic direction and progress made.